Pages copied from a tour guide entitled "Yo Semite Valley and the Big Trees of California" not only describe the colorful scenery along the stage route from Raymond to Wawona, but also adds a bit of historical mystery about one of the stops.

Published in 1894, the small pocket size booklet was one of several crafted by San Francisco travel promoter J. M. Hutchings. In it, Hutchings takes the prospective traveler on a trip from Raymond to Wawona on a horse-drawn stage stopping at Grub Gulch, King's Gulch and Ahwahnee.

"There was a time when you couldn't shake a bush in Coarsegold without a Krohn falling out."

Such was the comment of Gertrude Krohn when she and her husband Karl -- better known as "Buzz" -- were named grand marshals of the 1988 Raymond Parade. True, the Krohn family had been a part of the history of Raymond and Coarsegold since 1873 when Buzz' grandparents, John and Louisa Krohn settled there to ranch and subsequently opened a store.

Much has been said over the years about frontier justice during the heyday of gold mining along the Mother Lode. The first supervisor of the Sierra National Forest, Charles H. Shinn, was a prolific writer whose articles about early days in California were published widely.

His separate book, named simply "Mining Camps," quotes at length Richard J. Oglesby, a pioneer miner in the Mother Lode who rose to be the governor of Illinois in the latter half of the 19th century. Shinn cited this reference at length:

Most all of us have mailed off post cards from Yosemite Valley and had no question about their delivery, whether it be summer or winter. Things weren't quite the same130 years ago when the Yo Semite Post Office, as it was called until 1907, opened in the Valley.

In a November, 1947 article for Yosemite Nature Notes, the late Emil F. Ernst, for many years the Yosemite National Park's forester, recalled that daily mail service was an "established feature" of Valley life between May 1 and Nov. 1, starting in 1878.

Although historically it is gold that has captured the imagination of people recalling the early days of the West, copper had a brief run as well. It was during the Civil War that copper was mined heavily in the counties of California's Mother Lode.

The first claims for mining copper in Madera County were filed in the summer of 1863, back in the days when Millerton was the Fresno County seat. These were on deposits near where the town of Buchanan was to appear, a town whose name was preserved in the name of the flood control dam that created Eastman Lake on the Chowchilla River.

With spring in the air, it's about time to think of picnics. There are, of course, all types of picnics -- maybe just a romantic couple, or a family gathering together from hither and yon or a group of neighbors or community folk meeting to renew old acquaintances and celebrate the end of winter.

When in April, 1974, he was visiting with oral history interviewers from Sierra Historic Sites Association, the late Bill Ryan, who spent his entire life on a ranch on which he was born at Hildreth, told of a special celebration held along about Easter time each year.

As April Fool's Day nears, it seems appropriate to retell the story of a trick pulled by Johnny McBean, who operated a general merchandise store in Hornitos early in the 1850s.

For some time there had been animosity between McBean and the local law, represented by Constable Sam Breen, apparently dating back to a personal disagreement that ended in a fight in which McBean had roundly thrashed Breen.

Forty years ago

Week's news capsule's- *U.S. seeks tax increases as gold panic mounts. *RFK enters presidential race. *Nixon predicts LBJ will win nomination. *London police arrest 220 as mob of 10,000 stage anti-American riot. *University of California limits admissions, bars 14,000 applicants. Congressman Harold T. (Bizz) Johnson announced that the federal Neighborhood Youth Corps has earmarked $49,090 to finance a work experience program for 25 out of school young people in Madera County. More than 100 people turned out for a spaghetti dinner sponsored by the newly-formed Citizens Action Committee for A Second High School. A petition was started at the meeting urging the Madera County School Organization Committee to take the first legal step to bring a high school to Eastern Madera County. Funds from the dinner will be used for a survey as to the wishes of registered voters in the eastern portion of the county.

In this day of school buses and door to door service provided by mothers driving the family SUV, it is appropriate to recall how young people went to school three quarters of a century ago.

Back in 1984, Virginia Osborn, a student at Oak Creek Intermediate School in Oakhurst, sat down for a chat with Helen Schneider West, and the result was a prize- winning essay in Sierra Historic Sites Association's annual essay contest about times long ago.

In this day of school buses and door to door service provided by mothers driving the family SUV, it is appropriate to recall how young people went to school three quarters of a century ago.

Back in 1984, Virginia Osborn, a student at Oak Creek Intermediate School in Oakhurst, sat down for a chat with Helen Schneider West, and the result was a prize- winning essay in Sierra Historic Sites Association's annual essay contest about times long ago.